Back when I was a kid in the ’80s, the Smurfs were all the rage.  If you would have told me that in the year 2011 I would be virtually dancing with them, I probably would have giggled and said, “No way, cool!”.  It’s the year 2011, I’m now a 30-something and what am I doing?  Virtually dancing with the Smurfs.  Kinda funny how that works.  The cartoon characters I loved when I was a small child are now dancing across my television screen and my two young daughters are dancing right along with them.

Above: My daughters, Hailey and Teagan, dancing with Smurfette

Can I just tell you that when I danced along to some of the tracks on The Smurfs Dance Party, I was getting a serious workout? Awesome! I’m making this a daily thing. It’s fun and energizing. I love the video games of today where your entire body gets a workout, not just your thumbs!

Ubisoft is a world-wide leading developer/distributor/publisher of video games and just judging from The Smurfs Dance Party, I can see why. This is our first experience with one of the interactive dancing games for Wii and overall, I’m very impressed.

Pictured above: My daughter, Hailey, dancing along with Smurfette

I recommend checking out The Smurfs Dance Party if you were ever a fan of the little blue people as a youth.  I can pretty much guarantee your kids will love moving and grooving with them!

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft.  I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

I go through phases of wanting to exercise and not wanting to exercise. I’ve been in a very long phase of not wanting to exercise. I feel like I may have snapped out of it today.

The weather has warmed up significantly, as in, it’s May but it feels like August.   So the girls and I went out for a walk yesterday.  I’m usually the one complaining but it wasn’t me this time, it was the 5 year old.   She’s been fighting a chest cold and I thought it would do her some good to sweat it out a little bit.   It was 80 degrees at 9:00 am, so, sweat we did.

This morning after preschool drop-off, I took the 22 month old out in the jogging stroller.  I have never jogged with it.  We’ve had it since 2007, so there ya go.  There’s a first time for everything, right?

I’m not saying it hasn’t been jogged with, on the contrary.  The mister used to take Hailey jogging and now that she’s outgrown it, Teagan is the lucky one.  Anyway, I decided to take a stab at it this morning.

Verdict: It was very hot.  The breeze was nice.  I was really slow.  It felt so good!  I do believe I will make this jogging with the toddler in the stroller a regular thing.

We have this Jeep Overland Limited Jogging Stroller:

I know I wrote about it a long time ago but I can’t find my review for the life of me.  I’ll link up to it if I ever find it.  Anyway, it’s been a great jogging stroller (per my husband).  Let me jog with it a few more times and I’ll let you know my thoughts.  It’s great for walking, this I know.

I also used the Runkeeper iPhone app to track my progress.  It’s not the first time I’ve used this app and it won’t be the last.  There are some new features that I need to check out and then I’ll post my review of it over at TechGeekSphere.

I dont’ feel the need to weigh myself and I have already planned on cutting back on the junk that I usually eat.  I am more or less looking to get more active.  Hopefully you will see many posts like this one in the near future.

There has been much talk in my house lately about eating better and living a healthier lifestyle.  I have never been one to spend too much time focusing on my eating and exercise habits (or lack-thereof) and in the past few years, my figure has spilled the beans on that big secret.  I’ve always been a fair weather fan of exercising and still sneak the occasional pack of peanut butter M&M’s.  It’s not that I make completely bad choices in the food that I eat, but I really don’t have a set regimen.  However, it’s becoming more apparent that since there are now children involved, I possibly need one.  Read on.

I was going to ask Eric to write a post here about healthy eating and exercising but that’s silly because, he’s got an entire blog about it.  My husband is determined and very passionate about eating healthy and exercising.  The proof is in his rapid weight loss over the past 6 months.  It’s also obvious how badly he wants me and the kids to join him on his journey of eating and living primal/paleo.  But you wouldn’t know it when he brings home a tub of cookie dough for us. (Enabler!)  However, he redeemed himself this summer with his deck container-garden.  I was able to make plenty of my favorite Caprese salads with garden fresh basil and tomatoes.

I don’t disagree that his idea of healthy eating and weight loss isn’t a good one (because it’s obviously working for him), but I’m just not one of those people who can follow a specific plan or go on a “diet”.  In fact, I kind of hate that word and the idea behind it, so I try not to use it.  I am more of a go with the flow, take it as it comes kind of person and believe that we can make conscious decisions about the food we eat without too many crazy restrictions.  Thinking about following a specific plan just gets me all sorts of out of whack.  Also, I love ice cream.

At the same time, I realize that I cannot just think of my own health anymore.  I have a family and it’s up to me to make sure my kids are learning about being healthy and that we act on what we know and preach to them.  Admittedly, I struggle with feeding my kids super healthy food on a daily basis.  I could give you a slew of excuses for why that is.  I’m a big fan of quick and easy (no, not fast food all of the time, rarely ever actually).  So, I go with what we have in our house on any given day.  Luckily, my kids like fruit and “some” vegetables.  It’s tough with the soon-t0-be five year old, because she’s picky, like her mother.  However, she will sit and munch on red peppers and carrots as a snack.  We can give the toddler anything and she’ll eat it.  That can be good and bad at times.  My goal with the “second child” was to only feed her very healthy foods right from the start, so we don’t have the pickiness problem later on.  (It’s going to work, right?  RIGHT?)

My main problem is that I’m not overly creative in the kitchen.  Not that I don’t want to be, but I don’t have time each day, so if I don’t plan meals ahead, say on a Sunday, we fly by the seat of our pants on the weekdays.  My kids eat a lot of chicken and fish (of the frozen variety).  My toddler is obsessed with apples (there is a debate on whether or not that was her first word).  We don’t stay completely away from “junk” food but we’re careful not to get super junky food.  Like, snacks are mainly graham crackers and baked goldfish snacks.  We totally nosh on trail mix (yes, the kind with M&M’s, sue me) and yogurt with granola sprinkled on top.  Want to know what my father-in-law ate for a snack when he was a kid?  LARD.  That’s right.  So, I don’t think we’re doing all that terribly here.

Most importantly, we are conscious of our eating habits.  We don’t eat bad all of the time but we leave room for improvement.  In my opinion, this is something that will come with time.  Our kids are watching us and it’s important that we at least talk about it and teach them what healthy eating habits are.  It’s a learning experience for us all.

Don’t stop reading here.  Please take a look at what my Yahoo! Mother Board sisters have to say about healthy eating.

Yeah, I know this post comes a little on the late side, but there was turkey day and all last week. I do find myself asking why am I trying to do this around the holidays? Trying to do this amongst the eating and drinking extravaganzas otherwise known as Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good way to end up being miserable or getting frustrated and quitting. I know I often feel that way, but, at least for now, I’ve made it through. I took a few days off early in the week, but stretched out the rest of my runs and ended up with 12 miles jogged during week 3. It all, however, seems to be adding up to a whole lot of weight loss stagnation and frustration.

Even though I’m “trying” to eat “better” I’m not really doing such a good job at it. Heck, I had a whole bunch of Red vines today and that’s not helping anything. Do you have any tips for me and the rest of the readers out there? It’s not as if I don’t know what and how much I should be eating, I just don’t seem to be making it happen. Let’s give it another go in week 4. Anyhow, here are the totals:

Weekly Weight Loss: -2.6 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -5.6 lbs

Prior Dad On the Run Posts:
Introduction
Week 1
Week 2

Woah, I’m a few days late with this post, but better late than never, right? So the second week of Dad On the Run was a bit of a hectic week. I jogged only 12.02 miles (according to the treadmill) but (again) fell off the wagon in regards to eating good stuff again. I ate too much, drank too much, and took a few days off towards the end of the week. No worries though, this isn’t going to happen overnight.

Now Thanksgiving is on Thursday but it might present some problems. How to get around it? Just exercise some portion control and lay off the holiday drinks. That along with a hefty dose of pre-meal exercise should, hopefully, keep me on the right track this year. So after week two, things are as follows:

Weekly Weight Loss: -0.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -3.0 lbs

Prior Dad On the Run Posts:
Introduction
Week 1

So yeah, I took my own advice and started slowly and actually made it through the first week of Dad On the Run with flying colors. I jogged a total of 13 miles in six days which really isn’t all that much, but it’s a start.  Check back in six weeks and hopefully my weekly mileage will be almost twice that.  The one place I fell a little short was in the “healthy eating” department, but there are two ways I can look at this:

“I can either get crazy and neurotic about everything I eat or I can take things as they are presented and not feel bad about eating the leftover Halloween candy.”

For the sake of my sanity and the sanity of those around me (yes, I mean Amy) I’m going with the second option.  Sure, I probably won’t get to my goals as fast, but this isn’t about some crazy diet or unrealistic exercise plan, Dad On the Run is about a lifestyle change. So even with a little “cheating” here and there, I’m still resolved to eat stuff that is better rather than worse for me.  Those pita chips I just ate aren’t (however) making me feel any better about all this.

Anyhow here’s where I’m at after week one:

Weekly Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs

Many of you may have read my previous post about how I lost 40 pounds in 6 months earlier this year, and if you haven’t feel free to go back and check it out.  This isn’t about that journey, however.  Dad On the Run is about right now and what I’m going to do to lose those last few (okay, it‘s actually more like 25) pesky pounds. This is when and where the clock resets and it all turns to zero again.

To lose the weight I did between January and June I focused on eating well and jogging/running . On January 16th, I jogged a total of 1.27 miles; a humbling start for someone who just over four years earlier completed the Chicago Marathon.  On June 29th I ran 8.68 miles and continued jogging (although more sporadically) through July and August, but started eating all the stuff I knew I shouldn’t be eating and have been regressing since.  No more!

During those “good” months, I ran over 450 miles in total and I felt good.  By early September (however) I wasn’t really doing anything.  So a few additional pounds later, here I am laying it all on the table that HTML built. I’m going to start slowly (again) and ease my way back into running even though I haven’t really been away all that long.  I know that I haven’t really answered the question of, “What exactly is Dad On the Run?” Here goes.

Every week I’m going to document my progress and what I’m doing to get where I’m going.  Simple enough, right?  Although I “practiced” a few times this week, the endeavor all starts tomorrow in earnest.  I welcome all comments, questions, suggestions, etc…

I’m not sure what the weather is like where you live, but here in Chicago, it seems that things are finally looking up (at least in a meteorological sense) and I love it.

Back in mid-January (that’s less than 6 months ago), I made a decision that I was going to lose a significant amount of weight and get myself feeling like myself again; like the guy who ran the 2003 Chicago Marathon. So I made a plan and a plan to stick with that plan and as of today I’ve dropped 41 pounds and I’m hoping for at least 10 more by the 4th of July.

The funny thing about losing 40+ pounds is that it was actually pretty easy. Sure, there are sacrifices and staying motivated (especially at first) can be difficult, but it isn’t really that hard. Think about it; losing 40 pounds in about 20 weeks works out to 2 pounds a week. That’s a healthy and well-paced weight loss.

My formula for success is also pretty simple and there are 5 things you need to do:

* 1. Eat less, but don’t starve yourself. There are a million different places on the Interweb to find out what your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is and how much you should be eating so there isn’t any excuse. Some experts say keep a food log, but you know how much is too much. Yes you do.

* 2. Cut out refined sugars and processed carbohydrates. You don’t need to go low carb crazy, but stay away from breads, pasta, etc… Do eat as many fruits and vegetables as you care to. I know I could binge eat an entire bag of Doritos, but try eating an entire bag of apples or baby carrots. I’ll bet you can’t do it.

* 3. Exercise. Don’t be afraid to start slowly and stick with it. Back in January the first time I was on the treadmill I managed to go a little over a mile while alternating between walking and slow jogging. Yesterday I ran a little over 6 miles at about 9:00 pace.

* 4. Take a day off once in awhile. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the body of a fitness pro. Also don’t be afraid to have a cheat meal once in awhile. Have a slice of pizza and a beer on Friday night, but follow that up with a spinach omelet and 3 miles on the treadmill Saturday morning.

* 5. Have fun. If you hate running, you’ll never do it. Find something that you enjoy (swimming, biking, tennis, etc…) and stick with it.

That’s about it. Just eat less bad stuff, eat more good stuff, exercise, and don’t go overboard and set unrealistic goals you can’t meet. The only supplements I’ve taken during this time have been a daily multivitamin, fish oil capsules, and about 2 cups of green tea a day. If I can do it, so can you.